We stand in solidarity with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the millions of Black people subject to racial oppression, violence, and murder at the hands of the police and of white supremacists.
The crypto barbarians are at the gates. According to congressional Republicans, this week is “crypto week.” That’s code for their shameless plan to pass legislation expanding the wealth of 25 crypto billionaires while putting the rest of us — and the financial system — in harms way.
Less than two weeks after the Republicans passed a giant tax break for the super rich (paid for with savage cuts to Medicaid, nutrition programs, and more), they are teeing up two pieces of crypto legislation that will reward Big Tech and the crypto broligarchs but pose serious financial risks to small crypto investors, financial stability, and everybody else.
The CLARITY Act outpaces many of FIT 21’s substantial deregulatory flaws. It has more exemptions and even less oversight, allowing crypto scams and illicit finance to proliferate and pose greater risks to consumers and the financial system than FIT 21.
“Every legal loophole that the previous administration tried to close is now open again,” [Christine Chen Zinner, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform] told the Prospect. “With no meaningful oversight and accountability, there is no safety in the financial marketplace. People are on their own now.”
The GENIUS Act crypto stablecoin bill enriches billionaires and Trump while posing real risks to people and the financial system, lacks any real consumer protections, and will facilitate money laundering and illicit finance.
“AFR fact sheet on CLARITY Act cryptocurrency legislation that is a giveaway to crypto billionaires but poses enormous risks to the financial system and crypto investors. The legislation fails to address the administration’s crypto corruption, weakens oversight of cryptocurrency, undermines state regulators, promotes regulatory evasion, and fails to protect consumers, investors, and financial markets.”
The giveaways to private equity firms subsidize predatory and extractive practices that harm workers, families, and communities. At the same time, the big, brutal bill dismantles critical agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, making people more vulnerable to scams, rip-offs, and junk fees.
The Trump administration could really lend a hand to veterans and servicemembers. Instead, it’s opening the door for scams targeting military families.
This week, the Trump Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) terminated its previous order for the Navy Federal Credit Union to return $80 million to customers who had been charged illegal overdraft fees.
Today, the Senate majority rammed through legislation that gives tax breaks to billionaires, cuts programs people rely on to meet their families’ crucial needs, and guts agencies, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that protect people from abusive corporate practices.
Progressive groups Americans for Tax Fairness and Americans for Financial Reform calculate that the perk saved top Blackstone and KKR executives a combined $336mn over five years.
